2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

In response to the ongoing controversy over start and park teams, NASCAR decided to reallocate money from the last five finishing positions to the remainder of the field, making the practice less profitable.

Jimmie Johnson, making his 400th start, held off late challenges from teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin to take his second Daytona 500 win.

However, new Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth took no tires during the final round of pit stops, handing him the lead, and managed to hold off a hard-charging Kahne to take his first win with JGR as well as becoming the third birthday winner in NASCAR history.

2012 Fall winner and polesitter Matt Kenseth dominated the race, leading 163 laps and holding off another furious charge from Kasey Kahne to take his second win of the season.

Though polesitter Matt Kenseth dominated the race, leading 140 laps, fellow Toyota drivers Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch also took their turns up front.

It seemed as though Montoya would get his first win on an oval track, but a crash by Brian Vickers on lap 394 set up a green-white-checker finish, sending most of the field down pit road.

[113] Matt Kenseth led much of the first 110 laps, though Jimmie Johnson and Ford drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr., polesitter Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski subsequently passed him.

Busch quickly fell to sixth, while Kenseth won his first career Sprint Cup race at Darlington with interim crew chief Wally Brown, who was filling in for Jason Ratcliff.

Stewart, aided by Johnson's miscalculation, Kasey Kahne's Turn 1 mistake and a fading Kyle Busch, caught a loose Montoya, passing him with three laps left.

Afterward, multiple caution flags and different pit stop strategies gave Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kasey Kahne turns at leading the race.

Johnson rebounded to the second position after falling to twelfth as a result of a restart mistake, and leader Kahne blew a right-front tire and hit the wall in turn one on lap 105.

In the tri-oval, Danica Patrick cut down in front of David Gilliland and was turned into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman, causing a crash that also involved Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, and Jeff Burton, among others.

As drivers came into and fell out of the top ten due to pit strategy, both Kurt and Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, and others took turns at the front.

The first caution was displayed in turn one on lap one after Juan Pablo Montoya got loose and slid up the track, collecting, most notably, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

Drivers involved in seven, mostly minor, crashes included Ryan Truex, Josh Wise, Clint Bowyer, Tony Raines, Jimmie Johnson, David Reutimann, Aric Almirola, and Jeff Burton.

The eleventh caution on lap 448, as Hamlin blew a tire and ran into Ryan Newman, causing a large crash also involving Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Terry Labonte, and Kevin Harvick.

Kenseth held the lead over Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, and Jimmie Johnson over the last 40 laps to win his second consecutive race, and his seventh of the year.

Kevin Harvick won his first pole since 2006 in a race plagued with 15 cautions for debris, crashes, and spins involving several drivers, including Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, and Danica Patrick.

While points leader Matt Kenseth struggled with a loose racecar to finish eleventh, Harvick dominated the race, leading 138 laps en route to his third win of the season.

Jeff Gordon started on pole and led the first 26 laps, losing the lead during pit stops to Kasey Kahne after Dave Blaney hit the wall to cause the first caution.

After pit stops, Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. traded the lead several times until the caution came out on lap 80 for a crash involving Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Earnhardt moved into second as the field quickly went from three-wide to single file in the top lane, causing drivers such as Johnson, Kenseth, and Jeff Gordon to fall to the back.

Two laps later, as Burton and Earnhardt checked up near the front, a large stack of caused numerous cars to get damage, including polesitter Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Ken Schrader, and Aric Almirola.

The eighth caution came out on lap 230 for another spin by David Reutimann and Johnson led Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others, down pit road as Kenseth and many others stayed out.

Johnson won his sixth race of the season as Matt Kenseth, who had a pit road speeding penalty, battled an ill-handling racecar to finish fourth.

Jimmie Johnson started the race with his fourth pole of the year, but in a lap one turn one scramble with Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, he was bumped to the outside and fell back to sixth.

Lap 101 saw the second caution, and Kasey Kahne took two tires on pit road to take the lead, while Johnson fell to fifth, Gordon sixth, and Harvick seventh.

Timmy Hill crashed in turn one to bring out the third caution on lap 117, and many drivers outside the top ten, including Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth, came in to pit.

However, as Keselowski continued to lead on the restart, Kenseth (battling an extremely tight racecar) dropped to 23rd before the field was slowed for the fifth time because of a crash involving Danica Patrick, Justin Allgaier, David Reutimann, and Cole Whitt.

Lap 191 saw a hard crash for David Reutimann in turn one to cause to seventh caution, and all of the frontrunners came down pit road, leaving Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne out front.